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Board upholds classroom assistant’s dismissal for slapping student

Published: Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at 05:20 PM.

A former classroom assistant at Richbourg School stood before the Okaloosa County School Board Tuesday afternoon, not to ask for her job back, but for changes in district policy.

The district moved to terminate Claudia Stewart last month after the school resource officer saw her slap an autistic student, who Stewart described to be like family.

“I’m not asking for my job back,” Stewart said toward the end of the hour and a half hearing. “My main goal today was to make you understand there are things that have to be done... slapping a child was wrong. I got it. Did it.

“I’m not going to apologize for it. I had to do something to get him under control. I didn’t hurt him.”

The hearing, which was held at the request of Stewart, called for the board to hear from both sides and then make a decision based on facts.

All agreed that she slapped the child, but board member Dewey Destin disagreed with the decision to terminate her.

“You took the minimal physical action necessary to keep the child from harming himself, you or others,” Destin said.

He said while he didn’t condone striking children, after inquiring about the district’s non-violent “take-down” procedure, this action might have been less violent.

“I think you may have acted in a completely rational way in trying to just de-escalate the situation” Destin said.

According to Stewart, and another adult previously in the classroom, the student had been acting up all day long. When Stewart slapped the six-foot-four-inch student, the other teacher had left for a meeting and she was alone in the classroom with him and another student.

The SRO said he saw Stewart strike the teenager when he was making his normal rounds at the campus in Crestview.

He questioned her, but ultimately didn’t file charges because the family said they supported Stewart’s decision to slap the student.

The focus of the board’s questions relied heavily on the current district policies for non-violent crisis intervention and why Stewart didn’t request help.

Ultimately all board members except Destin voted to support her termination.

“The bottom line is you slapped a child; you admitted you slapped a child,” said Chairman Rodney Walker. “If you physically slap one, we have no choice but to take action.”
Future action on the issue is possible, but not against Stewart.

“What are we as a district going to be doing about this? Because these children are not going to go away and they are difficult to deal with,” said vice-chairwoman Cindy Frakes. “So we do need more training, if this methodology does not work with this population, then Madam Superintendent we need to look to see what else is out there.”

A former classroom assistant at Richbourg School stood before the Okaloosa County School Board Tuesday afternoon, not to ask for her job back, but for changes in district policy.

The district moved to terminate Claudia Stewart last month after the school resource officer saw her slap an autistic student, who Stewart described to be like family.

“I’m not asking for my job back,” Stewart said toward the end of the hour and a half hearing. “My main goal today was to make you understand there are things that have to be done... slapping a child was wrong. I got it. Did it.

“I’m not going to apologize for it. I had to do something to get him under control. I didn’t hurt him.”

The hearing, which was held at the request of Stewart, called for the board to hear from both sides and then make a decision based on facts.

All agreed that she slapped the child, but board member Dewey Destin disagreed with the decision to terminate her.

“You took the minimal physical action necessary to keep the child from harming himself, you or others,” Destin said.

He said while he didn’t condone striking children, after inquiring about the district’s non-violent “take-down” procedure, this action might have been less violent.

“I think you may have acted in a completely rational way in trying to just de-escalate the situation” Destin said.

According to Stewart, and another adult previously in the classroom, the student had been acting up all day long. When Stewart slapped the six-foot-four-inch student, the other teacher had left for a meeting and she was alone in the classroom with him and another student.

The SRO said he saw Stewart strike the teenager when he was making his normal rounds at the campus in Crestview.

He questioned her, but ultimately didn’t file charges because the family said they supported Stewart’s decision to slap the student.

The focus of the board’s questions relied heavily on the current district policies for non-violent crisis intervention and why Stewart didn’t request help.

Ultimately all board members except Destin voted to support her termination.

“The bottom line is you slapped a child; you admitted you slapped a child,” said Chairman Rodney Walker. “If you physically slap one, we have no choice but to take action.”
Future action on the issue is possible, but not against Stewart.

“What are we as a district going to be doing about this? Because these children are not going to go away and they are difficult to deal with,” said vice-chairwoman Cindy Frakes. “So we do need more training, if this methodology does not work with this population, then Madam Superintendent we need to look to see what else is out there.”